The Lionhearted
by FazzyGrl.22
Summary: In an attempt to help her struggling people in any way she can, a young woman will embark on a journey with four Knights on a quest to discover a land that had been thought to only be something out of legend. Little did she know that this path she takes will change her fate and that of her companions forever. (Fantasy AU / Working summary).


_**Hello, everyone! This is the beginning of a little project I started working on a while back. I mentioned it on my profile. This story (that I just named right now, lol, not even kidding) is a fantasy/adventure AU that involves several APH characters. Not quite sure where it's going. This is gonna be interesting. Hopefully the characters I use will be in-character, at least, as best as I can do. It's the first time that I've written for many of these characters. **_

_**Not to worry, I shall not abandon my EngSey fic for this. I can't help that I have at least 5 stories buzzing about in my head... **_

_**Feel free to comment and critique. All I ask is that you be polite. ^3^ **_

* * *

**I.**

Long ago, when the world was younger and less complicated and when there were still strange and wondrous creatures dwelling under the mountains and deep in the forests, there was a small group of nomadic peoples that moved from plain to plain, hunting in the woods and farming on the open land. They never took more than what they needed, and tried to live peacefully. They never wished to fight any neighboring people over land or power, but instead traded with others and kept to themselves.  
During the time that this little tale takes place, these Nomadic peoples had settled down on some extensive plains to the east, where they attempted to continue their daily lives in peace. Recently, however, as darker forces were beginning to rise up in the Far North East, they had been ambushed and attacked by alien forces and were driven back away from their beloved plains and took shelter in the extensive forests eastwards. There, these people had built strongholds and learned how to live up in the trees, where enemies would have a harder time of attacking them. Men and a select amount of women began to learn how to arm themselves and defend their woodland borders, which included the art of stealth. The firstborns of each family learned how to hunt and fend for themselves when out in the woods alone.

* * *

This story begins as one particular young person was walking through these woods heading for home after a long day's hunt. It was a young woman, dressed in a tunic and a pair of trousers that were color-camouflaged to the environment. She bore a sack of goods for the family's dinner and was quite proud of her accomplishments. Granted, some of the spoils would have to be handed over to the public markets as her family's contribution to the community for the day, but she was sure she could spare a rabbit or two for herself. They should at least grant that.  
After passing through a glade that led deeper into an area of the forest that was unknown to the untrained eye, she followed a man-made dirt path used only for the community's hunters, until she came upon a tall tree. Hidden up in its boughs was a small platform, where a hidden sentry kept watch, lest any unwanted visitors came snooping around. The young woman looked around her until she was absolutely certain that she hadn't been followed. Then she let out a peculiar whistle that the sentry was trained to recognize. A similar whistle answered back, and a ladder was lowered down for the girl to climb upon.  
"Hello, Eliza," the guard said upon seeing the young woman climb onto the platform. "Trap anything good today?"  
"I did indeed!" she exclaimed, giving the man a jovial smile. "I'm going to turn the meat over to the market now."  
"Ah, I see."  
Before she passed over the other side of the platform and down a small trapdoor, she leaned in to the man secretly and whispered,  
"Do you think it would be possible for me to keep some of this, though?" She held the sack up under their noses. "I mean, it _is _my catch, after all..."  
The man chuckled. "I don't know. That's something you'd have to discuss with the vendors."  
"Hmm..." She shrugged. "Well, I'll see you around, I expect!"  
"Have a good evening, Eliza."  
The guard resumed his vigil and Eliza pulled open the trapdoor and descended down a flight of stairs which had been carved into the hollow of the massive tree the platform rested upon. When she reached the bottom, she pushed open an old door carved into the opposite side of the tree trunk and found herself in the midst of a small town square. In all directions were small stands owned by different vendors that sold supplies, such as food, fabrics, and other necessities.  
Eliza made her way to one of the larger parts of the markets: the grocery vendors. A young man roughly around her age greeted her with a smile.  
"Good evening, Elizaveta!" he said as he leaned over the counter.  
"Hello, Dániel." She held up her sack. "Here you go; my daily spoils."  
"Aw, for me?" he teased. "You shouldn't have!"  
"Humph." Elizaveta rolled her eyes. "You're right, and I'd rather not, but that's the rules. Right?"  
The lad gave her a sheepish smile and shrugged as he looked through the sack. "Yes it is. Sorry, but that's the way things work around here. You know it's the best way to keep everyone fed!"  
She sighed and rested her elbows on the counter and looked up at the young man. "Yes, I do know. But sometimes I wish..."  
"Hey, you know, you've got quite a lot of rabbits here! We've already got more than enough in the back..." He shifted his dark green eyes back and forth and leaned in to whisper in Elizaveta's ear.  
"I'll tell ya what. I'll give you a couple. I mean, we have too many, and this _is_ your catch..."  
A smile began to form on her lips. "You'd do that? For me?"  
He leaned away and chuckled, nervously scratching the back of his neck. "Well, hey, I mean... You earned it and all... Besides, we don't need any more rabbits and..."  
Elizaveta suddenly felt guilty. After all, Dániel was about to risk losing his only job, which meant losing one of the main incomes for supporting his family. She didn't want that to happen to him. He was one of her only friends.  
"No, Dániel. I don't want you losing your job over me."  
He frowned. "But -"  
"You should at least go and ask your boss if it is all right. I won't agree to anything else."  
Dániel sighed. "All right. I'll be back in a minute."  
It only took a minute or two for Elizaveta to wait until her friend returned. When he did, he held out the sack to her and there were two rabbits inside.  
"Good news! The boss agreed to my request! He said that we had enough rabbits already and that since it was your catch, you were entitled to the extras!"  
Elizaveta was ecstatic. She snatched the sack out of Dániel's hand and beamed up at him.  
"Thank you for asking! I'm so happy I could hug you!"  
That sent the young man to blushing. "Aw, c'mon, Eliza... I-I mean..."  
She laughed. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I won't forget this, Dániel! Somehow, I'll make it up to you! You'll see!"  
She waved goodbye to him, and he merely smiled as he watched her leave.  
_Make it up to me? _He thought. _I know of a few ways she could..._

* * *

"I am _tired!" _Elizaveta threw herself down onto her straw mattress and buried her face in her pillow. Her short waves of hair curled around her face and her eyes began to grow heavy. She was on the verge of succumbing to slumber when she heard,  
"Elizaveetaaaaaaaaaa!"  
"Uhhhh..." She squeezed her eyes shut and sighed before raising her head and answering.  
"I'm in here, Bianca..."  
The curtain that separated Elizaveta's room from the rest of the house was thrown up as a young woman ran in and jumped onto Elizaveta gleefully.  
"Elizaveta! No time for sleeping! You're needed to help cook!"  
"Right, right. I know... Can you please get off of me, Bianca? You're gonna break my back!"  
There was a yelp and the girl sprang off of Elizaveta.  
"I'm sorry! I didn't hurt you, did I?"  
"N'aw. I'll be all right." Sitting up, Elizaveta yawned and stretched, lifting her arms and arching her back. Then she scratched her head and smiled at the girl next to her.  
"You look tired, _mia cara," _Bianca said kindly. "Was hunting hard today?"  
"It usually is," was her answer, shrugging. With a pat on the girl's head, Elizaveta stood and headed out of her room.  
"I suppose Heracles needs help, eh?"  
"_Sì!" _  
The two of them were in the open space of their tree house, where the family all cooked, ate and spent time together. A fire pit was in the middle of the room and there sat a man in a long white robe, his long sleeves rolled up, as he roasted Elizaveta's rabbits over the fire.  
"She's here, Heracles!"  
"Hmm?" Green eyes met Bianca's golden ones and he blankly looked up at the two girls.  
"Oh. There you are, Elizaveta. I guess I didn't see you come home. Could you help with the gravy?" He inclined his head in the direction of a pot sitting by the fire.  
"Yes, Sir. Bianca, could you fetch some herbs?"  
"Aye aye, ma'am!" She cried. The girl scampered past the fire and over to a hutch where they kept many of their dry provisions.  
Elizaveta smiled. It had been almost seven years since her older brother had found and had taken in the little auburn-haired, golden-eyed child with the bubbly attitude and bright smile. When they had first decided to take her in, the mayor of their community had been worried, thinking that she was perhaps a spy for the enemy or some other mysterious people, but after a brief analysis, it was concluded that the little foreign girl was harmless. She genuinely had no recollection of who she was or where she had come from. All she knew was a few foreign words and her own name: Bianca.  
The small family had been granted custody of the girl and they had accepted Bianca almost immediately. She, in turn, soon regarded them as her own family, even though it was obvious to everyone that she came from some faraway land, due to her unique features and her strange accent that she still was able to keep. But Bianca never inquired about where she could be from and she was content to live with Elizaveta, her older brother and their cousin Heracles.  
The young girl in question had found the requested herbs and had given them to Elizaveta who proceeded to stir the gravy. She then plopped down beside Elizaveta and beamed at both her and Heracles.

"Guess what?" she exclaimed.

"What?"

"You know the money I received from helping some of the women mend all the clothing of the sentinels?"

The other two nodded.

"Well, guess what I spent it on!"

The two smirked. "We give up," Heracles said. "What did you spend it on?"

She leaped up, scurried out of their entryway and down the tree, and after a few minutes, returned with a loaf of bread barely four hours old. Heracles' eyes widened and Elizaveta leapt to her feet.

"Fresh bread?" she exclaimed.

"Sì!" Bianca chirped gleefully.

"How much did that cost?"

Bianca merely shrugged and her eyes shifted. "Well…"

Elizaveta narrowed her eyes, growing suspicious. "Well?" she queried.

"Ah… You see…"

"You spent all of your earnings, didn't you?" Heracles said with an amused smile on his face.

Elizaveta gaped at the younger woman. "You didn't!"

Bianca held the loaf toward them. "It's fresh bread!" she argued. "I couldn't pass it up!"

Elizaveta couldn't argue no matter how hard she wanted to. Having a whole loaf of bread that wasn't even a day old was nothing to sneeze at. She secretly couldn't wait to sink her teeth into it.

"Well," she finally said, "I must admit that I'm very excited to have a slice of that…"

Bianca laughed at the longing look in Elizaveta's eyes. "Well, I'm going to warm it up! I'll be right back!"

"Make sure you don't burn it or anything," Heracles called to her. They could hear her muttering her objections as she left the room. Elizaveta giggled. Bianca was a good cook, but sometimes she got distracted.  
A little while later, the meat was turning a beautiful brown, and the bread was almost ready, with its wonderful aroma wafting throughout the house, and Elizaveta's older brother Sadiq had come home.  
"Something smells good!" he exclaimed. He threw up his green hood to reveal a ruggedly handsome face with short dark hair and matching dark eyes. Elizaveta looked up and smiled at him. Heracles nodded in his direction.  
"How are you, brother?" she asked. He bent down to kiss her on the top of her head.  
"Oh I am fine, just fine. I am hungry too!" The man removed his great boots, set them by the door and sat down beside his cousin.

"Seriously, something smells amazing. Did we open up a bakery or something while I was gone?"

"Bianca bought a loaf of fresh bread," Elizaveta answered.

He looked surprised. "Where did she get the money?"

"She used her earnings from helping the women mend uniforms," Heracles answered.

Sadiq shook his head with a tender smile on his face. "That darling girl…" he muttered.

"She is indeed a darling," Heracles said quietly. After a minute, Sadiq heaved a contented sigh, taking in the smell of fresh bread.  
"So, did you all have a good day?" he asked.  
Elizaveta nodded. "I caught the food we're going to eat."  
"Rabbits, I take it?" he guessed, looking at the meat roasting on the spit. "They look delicious! This is going to be quite a feast!"  
She focused her gaze on the gravy that was nearly done. She had decided not to tell any of them about her little deal at the market. They wouldn't have agreed with her opinion about keeping one's own game, especially Sadiq. He believed in the good of the community and held that all the rules needed to be followed.  
"What about around here? Everything all right, Herc?" Sadiq patted his cousin on the back.  
"Eh, more or less," the man shrugged. He stretched away from the fire to reveal one leg that was decidedly shorter than the other. The left leg ended at the knee.  
"Has he done his exercises, Bianca?" Sadiq asked as the young woman came back with the warm bread.  
"Sadiq! Hello!" She said jovially. She set the loaf of bread down on the table and tackled the older man from behind, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him.  
"I'm glad you're home!" She happily cooed. Sadiq laughed.  
"And I'm glad to see you too! Thank you for buying the bread," he said warmly.

She quietly laughed. "It's not that big of a deal," she said.

"You spent all of your own money, though, Bianca."

"Oh that's nothing, Sadiq! I just wanted to do something to help the family out," was her reply."

Sadiq ruffled her hair. "Well, I thank you regardless, my dear. Now, has Heracles done his exercises for the day?"

"Well..." Bianca stood, fidgeting with the skirt of her dress. "He started to, but then he said he was tired so he took a nap and since I didn't want to wake him up, I decided to take a walk and went to go play with some of the children down below in town. That's when I bought the loaf of bread," she remarked, grinning. "Then I found a kitty wandering around and I brought him back here where Heracles and I spent the rest of the afternoon playing with him. Then Heracles said it was time to begin cooking dinner and that was when I heard Elizaveta come home... so..." She shrugged, ending her account.  
Elizaveta and Sadiq frowned at Heracles, who merely smiled with a nonchalant devil-may-care attitude.  
"What? I _was _tired," he said quietly.  
"You're also apathetic!" Elizaveta exclaimed angrily, jabbing a wooden spoon into her cousin's face. A couple drops of gravy plopped down onto his robe.  
"How are you ever gonna learn how to walk again if you don't practice and exercise?"  
"Elizaveta..." Sadiq started to speak.  
"I mean, come on, Herc!" she continued. "We need you around here! You can't just give up on us!"  
"Eliza. Enough," Sadiq said firmly.  
"Do you think I _like _to laze around all day like this, unable to pull my weight around here?" Heracles asked sternly, but still in that quiet voice.  
"Well, I don't know. You tell me!" Elizaveta shot back.  
"Why don't _you _try to see how it feels to be unable to stand, unable to run, unable to serve your people the way you used to," Heracles' voice was now cold and hard. His green eyes glittered with a smoldering anger. "Why don't _you _try to take on this depression, this anger, this feeling of uselessness? I'd like to see how you'd cope with the fact that you can't so much as help hunt the smallest of prey because you can't get out of your own blasted house!"  
The room was silent; an uncomfortable feeling of tension hovered in the air. Heracles looked down, away from Elizaveta who was now biting her lip in shame. Sadiq stared into the fire and Bianca merely watched Heracles with tears in her eyes.  
The silence was broken with Heracles' sigh.

"I am sorry. You are right, Eliza. I am apathetic. I just... I just don't see the use in trying. I can't be of any use to anyone now, so what's the point?" He shrugged, handing Sadiq a plate full of the rabbit meat. Then he pulled his one good leg up to his chest, rested his chin on the knee and stared into the fire, blinking. An orange tabby entered the room and lovingly rubbed against Heracles' back. A sad smile came over the man's face and he picked the cat up, scratching its fuzzy head between the ears. The cat purred contentedly.  
Elizaveta removed the gravy from the fire and sniffed. She had tried to hold back tears as Heracles spoke and now she got up and approached her cousin. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head against his back.  
"No, _I_ am sorry, Heracles. I... I didn't know... I didn't know you felt so low... Forgive me for speaking so unfeelingly."  
She felt his hands caress her arms. "I forgive you," he said after a minute.  
Sadiq forced a smile onto his face. "She just worries about you, Herc. You know that. We all hate seeing you so down like this."  
"Yes," Bianca murmured. She knelt down beside Elizaveta and hugged him as well. "We want you to get better!"  
A low chuckle came from the crippled man. "I know. Thank you. I... I will try to do better. I promise."  
"Good man," Sadiq said. "Let's eat dinner, all right?"  
Bianca rose to put the meat and gravy on the table. Sadiq found a wooden cane in a corner near the table and handed to Elizaveta, who gave it to Heracles. She helped him stand up and he held the cat in one arm while he stumbled to support himself on the cane with the other. Elizaveta continued to hold his arm and the four of them sat down at the table to eat.  
Dinner was pleasant, but as their conversations went from one subject to another, Elizaveta began to notice that there was something bothering her brother. He did his best to conceal it, but when it came to certain subjects like the community's stability or the guard around the borders, he became strangely jovial and would answer questions with short answers. She could tell that something was up, but she didn't ask him about it. She was still worried about Heracles. It turned out that he was more depressed than she had suspected. His words had shaken her, and she watched him throughout the meal. Bianca was being her typical self, jabbering away while laughing. That seemed to brighten their cousin up. He was smiling and talking in his usual quiet tones while he and Bianca stroked the cat. But even so, Elizaveta couldn't help but worry.  
After dinner was over, Sadiq helped Heracles sit back down by the fire and the two men shared a bottle of mead together. Elizaveta and Bianca went to wash their cooking utensils.  
"Thank you for being so good with Heracles," Elizaveta said to the younger woman.  
"What? Oh! Of course! He's like family to me! I hate seeing him so depressed." She looked down into the water and sighed. "I can remember when it happened..."  
Elizaveta looked away and rubbed her hand over her eyes.  
"Ah! Elizaveta? I'm sorry! I shouldn't have -"

"No," she snapped. After collecting herself and restraining tears, her expression softened. "No, it's all right. Are we done washing? Then let's head back."  
Elizaveta was never one to openly reveal her emotions. She would rather just keep them to herself and pretend that nothing was wrong. She grabbed the drying dishes and headed back home. She could hear Bianca's surprised exclamations as she scurried to follow.

* * *

"I can do it myself, Eliza," Heracles grumbled as he limped into the section of their home where he slept. She watched him with some concern, but he made it to bed without any trouble, the tabby cat following him. Bianca was lying by the fire sleeping soundly, a smile on her face.  
"Is she asleep?" Sadiq whispered.  
"Yes."  
"All right then." The man rose from his seat and picked the young woman up, carrying her to bed.  
Once Bianca was safely and soundly sleeping in her room, Sadiq came back to the big room and sat down beside his sister. She heard him heave a heavy sigh.  
"Is something wrong, Sadiq?" she asked quietly.  
He glanced at her before turning back to the fire.  
"Our borders have been heavily attacked in the past several weeks. It seems that the enemy is beginning to grow aware of our hiding place."  
_"What?"_ Elizaveta hissed.  
"Yes. Many of our people have spotted enemies near the outer regions, killing game and driving the animals away. The leaders have been discussing about sending a party to go to the mayor of the lake town for assistance, but they have problems of their own. It seems that enemy ships from the northeast have attacked them in the past few weeks. What few people we still had living on our plains are all migrating south to get away from terrorizing wolves. It's going to be a long winter for us. I... I don't know how we are going to fare. Everyone will be required to pull extra weight, and what with Heracles being a cripple and Bianca being too young and delicate, as well as caring for Heracles, it will only be you and me to make do with everything.  
Elizaveta shrugged. "So? It will just be the same as it has been. We can manage, Sadiq."  
He looked at his sister and smiled sadly,  
"You shouldn't have to be out there at all, doing all that training and learning how to kill..." he muttered. "Mother and Father would not have wanted this for you."  
"Mother and Father would have wanted us all to help out in any way we could. After all, it wasn't just _you_ that Father taught how to fight and you have enough to worry about, what with taking care of the border guard. You cannot take care of everyone on your own."  
"It is well that you began training, then," Sadiq said. "You have been a big help, sister. " He took her hands and gently squeezed them. "I only wish it didn't have to be like this. I wish life could be the way it was when our parents were young, when our people lived on the open fields and plains, instead of being stifled and jammed into this forest."  
"Why do they bother us, anyway?" she queried. "What do they want?"  
"The enemy hates any peace-loving peoples who believe in all that is good," Sadiq said grimly. "I expect they just want to enslave us and make us work for his minions."  
"Well, we can't allow that!" Elizaveta exclaimed. "We are a free people, and free we shall remain!"  
Sadiq chuckled, to his sister's surprise. "You always were a passionate girl, Eliza."  
She smiled. "Don't worry, Sadiq. I'm sure we will all think of a way to stop them. Besides, we're safe as long as the enemy doesn't discover where we are in here."  
His gloomy mood returned. "But the closer they get, the closer we are to trouble. We need more help, more forces... more allies. There have been new rules about safety regarding hunting now. Make sure you follow them closely. I fear for you, Eliza. I wish you did not have to go out there."  
She felt her heartbeat quicken. Things must indeed be getting dangerous. Being out in the woods hunting was one of the last real pleasures she had. She felt free being out there, unwatched, and left to do things her way, not going by some set of rules. But now? Now she even had to follow rules about where she hunted and how she hunted. She was crestfallen, but she did not let Sadiq see that.  
"You know I am skilled in fighting, Sadiq. I can take care of myself."  
"But..."  
"And I follow the rules, even if I don't like them. So, you needn't worry."  
"Eliza..."

"Hush!" She said. She would not give into anxiety. "Say nothin more about this. We will be all right. We have to be. We always have been. Even when the goblins nearly killed Heracles, he still survived. Even though Mother and Father were taken away from us, we have still carried on with life. You cannot begin thinking dark thoughts, Sadiq. As long as we are alive and together, we will be all right."  
It became quiet. Sadiq stared into the fire for a while as Elizaveta watched him. Finally, he turned and wrapped his arms around her.  
"All right, 'Lizvet. I will try to keep up hope. You are right. We must not begin to succumb to fear and worry just yet." He stood. "I'm going to go to bed. Sleep well."  
She stood and kissed him on the cheek. "Good night, brother."  
Sadiq put out the fire and the two of them went to bed.


End file.
